Sommer Marsden is one of the first names I encountered when I set foot in the world of erotica. When I saw that I would be sharing the pages of a book with her (The Big Book of Bondage – out on January 15th) I squealed with delight. I’ve since learned that not only is she a fantastic writer, she is a lovely person, too.

About Lion Hearted:
Tryg Avondale is the muscle for his pride, and when he’s called upon to hunt down two missing teens, he sees the job for what it is – a chance to give his pride a break from him and his “nature”. Tryg is a gay lion and it’s not something his “family” seems to embrace.

He takes with him Luke Dorchester – an empath and the perfect travel companion. Luke can feel and soothe every emotion that coils deep inside Tryg, and the sex between them is the hottest Tryg has ever known. Tryg has no intention of letting his emotions go any further when it comes to this brand new man. But he also has zero intention of letting him go. What follows is a road trip from campground to campground, hot nights in hotel rooms and close encounters spent together as they follow the scent of the two abducted shifters. A scent that takes them to Divination Falls, a haven for shifters and associated magical folk; a place where an old evil will surface and Tryg will learn just how far his love for lion-hearted Luke must take him.

Tryg said, ‘I don’t know.’ He heard the growl in his own voice. Felt his nerve endings dance and shimmy with the urge to shift and claim and fuck. Instead, he stayed just as he was and advanced on Luke. Luke, who looked much smaller and much more vulnerable now that they were alone and in his territory.

‘Oh,’ the smaller man said, backing up a little. Tryg could see him trying to stand his ground. Could see him failing too.

‘You can go now. Run. Tell me no.’ Tryg gripped Luke’s upper arms in his big hands. He felt a rush of emotions – lust, fear, peace, joy. It all washed over him in a crushing wave that threatened to sweep him under and away.

‘I’m not running.’ Luke looked terrified but, under it all, he looked excited.

Tryg had one more thought to let him go. It flitted through his mind, fast and light like a hummingbird, before he batted it away. He wasn’t letting this go. This was some kind of divine reward from the universe for an utterly shitacular week … Hell, year. And, knowing his luck, it would all fall away almost instantly. So he decided in that heartbeat he was. Not. Letting. This. Go.

So he kissed him. Dug his fingers into Luke a bit too tight, he knew, but he could smell the tang of pain and fear on the boy. It was almost too much to bear. He’d never really hurt him anyway. Tryg knew that; it was as concrete as the feel of Luke’s cock to his thigh. That hard length of flesh told Tryg he was right. His grip on the younger man wasn’t too hard – at least, not really – and the pain drove the pleasure faster. Luke liked it. It was on his scent.

‘You’re a what? A what?’ Luke babbled against Tryg’s lips. But his hand – much smaller than Tryg’s baseball mitt-sized hands – slipped and slid enticingly up and down Tryg’s erection. It was all Luke could do because Tryg still held him firmly by the upper arms.

Another kiss. This time his tongue bullied the boy’s. Tryg nipped the younger man’s lower lip hard enough for him to jerk and whimper against Tryg’s mouth. But Luke’s entire body pressed forward instead of drawing back – seeking more of the contact, not less.

Tryg shook his head, fighting the urge to shift and fighting the urge to really bite Luke. He didn’t want to do anything to scare him off. But God, his mind was going fuzzy and red. He wanted to fuck Luke until he wept … In the best possible way.

‘A lion.’ His voice came out rough and raspy. His vocal chords caught somewhere between man and beast.

He popped the button on Luke’s jeans after releasing the steel grip he had on the kid’s upper arms. Luke watched, fascinated, as Tryg peeled open his fly and slipped his beat-up jeans low on his trim hips. He made a small, startled noise when Tryg dipped his fingers into the blue boxer briefs concealed beneath the denim and swept his fingertips along the hard-on hidden inside the cotton. When their skin met, Tryg felt the jolt travel through him. Simple arousal and want turned to brain-pounding lust. His rein on control was unravelling fast, and threatened to break.

He moved fast, crushing Luke’s mouth with another rough kiss. ‘Now’s your chance,’ he rasped. ‘If you want to run, run away, little rabbit. Because you have about two seconds to back out of this.’